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More Science Fiction, Here On Earth

This is a Conehead Katydid. Frans Lanting is a National Geographic Photographer who has won awards for his nature photography. My place of employment, the World Forestry Center, is hosting a traveling exhibition of his work and I find it FASCINATING. His exact, but emotional portraits of apes, of toxic caterpillars, of the jungle canopy breathing mist, of transparent insects, of parrots flying in a shock of painted hue....it's magic. It's paradise! It is almost literally, Heaven On Earth. How could anything celestial be as beautiful as what is here, right before our eyes? It's unbelievable to me that something as WONDEROUS and COMPLEX and BEAUTIFUL and INTERESTING as our ecosystems, forest or ocean, or air...could be completely ignored and destroyed without remorse. Without really even knowing anything about it! Take a look at some of the creatures Frans Lanting has uncovered for us, and you'll feel a tiny understanding of some of the amazing creatures and the symbiotic realtionships they foster with other plants and other creatures...that are being lost.Sometimes it's hard to think what to do to help...buy a hybrid? I'm dreaming of the day when a majority of cars are low-emmission, or even completely emmission-free. Better yet, I should ride my bike more often. It is fun, and makes me more fit, (and you get to glow a bit with the moral highground). I was doing the math the other day, and I think I've spent about 2,000$ in the last ten years on "green" toilet paper alone. I'm really not sure if I'm helping to save the world or not, but I sure like to believe that it's helping. Another 1000$ on green dishwashing liquid, and perhaps 200$ on unbleached, recycled coffee filters. Fake meat and organic produce are a huge part of the monthly bill. I did switch to wind-powered energy the other day, and we have disconnected downspouts. What else? I need to try those earth-friendly lightbulbs! It's all for these little guys, but of course in the end it's for me, too.